The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

This week Seth and Bill welcome back historian Dave Holland to talk about the last few weeks on Guadalcanal as the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Raider Battalion and US Army attempt to wipe out the remaining Japanese on the island. The trio discusses the Long Patrol, Gifu, Sea Horse and Galloping GHorse as the campaign ashore winds mercifully down to a finale.

In this special episode, airing on the 82nd anniversary of Admiral Nimitz taking command of the Pacific Fleet, Bill and Seth go a bit deeper into the history of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz from his beginnings in Texas to his command of the Pacific Fleet and some other interesting stories in between.

The fight the night before, 13-14 November had beaten both naval forces down.  US forces had been beaten to a bloody pulp, as had the Japanese.  Yet despite the beating, the Japanese still held a significant numerical advantage.As Jon said last episode, the Japanese still held 3-4 BBs in reserve and had yet to commit them to the fight around Guadalcanal, for who knows what reasons.The US on the other hand, quite literally were scraping the bottom of the barrel.  That’s not to say that the battleships sent to IBS were scows, not at all, but Halsey was hesitant to commit his battleships to the close waters off Savo, but honest to God had no choice at this time BUT to commit them.Let’s talk about Halsey’s decision to send the battleships to IBS.BB56 was designed to be a long range sniper, not a close range brawler.  She was designed in the 1930’s with limitations on armor and gunnery.The USN decided in the 1930’s to throw out their previous slow battleship designs, heavy on armor, heavy on firepower and low on speed, for more modern designs that emphasized gunnery, speed and cruising range.The culmination of this decision was the North Carolina class battleship, of which BB56 was the last of two.  She was fast by BB standards, capable of bending on upwards of 28-30 knots with a breeze behind her, but did not have the armor to withstand hits from weapons of her own size, that being 16 inch rifles.Washington’s companion, the USS South Dakota BB57, carried the same rifles, but carried more armor, had a smidgen less speed, but had negligible torpedo protection in order to pack on more armor to withstand the hits from 16 inch rifles like she packed herself.All that being said, the decision to send his 2 BBs, literally all he had left, to deal with another heavy Japanese surface force in the claustrophobic, torpedo infested waters of IBS was incredibly ballsy…but did he really have a choice?ChingThe man who was in command of the battleships was quite honestly the perfect choice to be in that slot.  Naval Academy Class of 1908, his fondness of asian culture and desire to serve in the asiatic theater earned him the nickname “Ching”.Ching was an avid shooter.  He absolutely loved firearms of all sorts, even building a few of his own from scratch.  He joined and shot on the Naval Academy rifle team multiple times, eventually competing in the 1920 Summer Olympics.In those games, Lee earned 5 (!) gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze in team events, consistently shooting in the top three in every event.  His record of 7 medals for the olympics would not be topped until 1980.  The majority of his early service was in BBs, Cruisers, including command of USS Concord, and a destroyer division command.   In 1942 he was promoted to rear admiral.In the interwar years, Lee served on many Bureau of Ordnance boards, practicing naval gunnery, experimenting with powder calculations, windage, fire control systems theory and practical usage of heavy naval rifles.  To say that he was an expert marksman and an expert regarding naval gunnery would be an understatement.  In 1942, Lee was considered the US Navy’s foremost expert on anything regarding gunnery and accuracy. A fanatic for anything that aided in gunnery, Lee was a quick advocate and an even quicker study on the new radar sets entering USN service in the late 30’s early 40’s. He advocated that the Navy should start a new school for the instruction of radar and also was a very vocal advocate for the new technology’s installation aboard BBs, CA, and CLs.His subordinates absolutely adored him, and in a statement you will probably never hear again, so did Admiral King.  Admiral Nimitz, upon sending him to Guadalcanal stated, “Now we’ll see what a real fighter can do.”Initially taking BB57 as his flagship, Lee was forced to transfer to what would become his “home” for the majority of the war, USS Washington when SoDak ran aground almost as soon as she got into theater.  The move to “Big Wash” would be fortuitous for all the reasons we are about to see.USS WashingtonBB56 had a core crew that would have made any ship blush in envy.  Her skipper Glenn Davis was absolutely loved by the crew, he was genteel, caring and whip smart.  With him he had a core of officers that turned 56 into an absolute machine of efficiency.LCDR Edwin Hooper, a graduate of MIT, was the ship’s fire control officer and assistant gunnery officer.  Like Lee, he was an advocate of superior marksmanship, dove head first into ballistics and trajectory of heavy rifles, and was a firm believer in radar’s abilities.  He and ADM Lee got along like a pair of long lost cousins.The gunnery officer, CDR Harvey Walsh, LCDR Harry Seeley, main battery spotting officer, CAPT Jonas PLatt, secondary battery officer and even LCDR Ed Schanze, navigator and radar officer all routinely met with and discussed gunnery and radar with ADM Lee aboard BB56.  The “Gun Club” as it was dubbed, was probably the foremost grouping of gunnery minded individuals in the US Navy, let alone on one ship.BB56, under Davis and at the direction of Hooper and Walsh, had rigorously trained their main battery crews to an efficiency level that had not been seen before aboard an American battleship.  Walsh relentlessly trained his gunnery crews to be as fast as possible when loading the 16 inch rifles.  Normal 16 inch rifles could be loaded in a time span between 25-30 seconds.  Washington’s gun crews had the practice down to 15.  Absolutely devastating, earth shaking firepower ability in literally the perfect hands. Washington took delivery of her SG radar system when ADM Lee was aboard.  Lee personally supervised the installation of the interior monitoring sets and laid them out in a compartment next to the flag bridge so he could monitor it all the time, using the new technology to plot fall of shot when training.Talk about Lloyd Mustin and Atlanta taking fire from BB56 in trainingLee had Walsh and Hooper calibrate 56’s guns to such a degree that when she fired in Atlanta’s wake from 35,000 yards, 56’s shells all landed in Atlanta’s wake, not over or short, but directly on target.  Mustin said, “Those 2700 pound armor piercing projectiles were going to be very bad news for anybody they were ever aimed at.”The Fight draws nearJapanese ships, 14 in number, were assigned to bombard Henderson Field yet again on the night of 14-15 November under the direction of ADM Kondo.1 BB Kirishima2 CAs Takao, and Atago2 CLs Nagara, Sendai9 DDsThe US force, designated Task Force 64 was under the command of ADM Lee and consisted of:2 BBs, Washington and South Dakota4 DDs, Walke, Preston, Benham and GwinIt should be noted that the 2 BBs had only operated together for a very short time, and had never operated with these specific DDs before.The DDs were chosen from different divisions based on their fuel status only.TF64 aligned itself in column formation, with the DDs in the lead, followed by BB56 and BB57 bringing up the rear.At around 1300, Lee received a message from Halsey that, essentially, gave Lee a free hand to do whatever he needed to do, gave him complete freedom of action for his “excursion”.At 1600, Lee received a sighting report from submarine USS Trout that identified the Japanese bombardment force and mentioned a Japanese BB in that same force.  Knowing that the Japanese force would not reach the Savo area until around 2300, Lee waited before making his approach into the patrol area.Moments after getting the report, he gave it to CAPT Davis who got on the ship’s pa system and stated, “We are going into an action area.  We have no great certainty what forces we will encounter.  we may be ambushed.  A disaster of some sort may come upon us.  But whatever it is we are going into, I hope to bring all of you back alive.  Good luck to all of us.”The men aboard the big battlewagons, aware that they were going to tangle with the Japanese, were beginning to get a bit edgy.The previous night, Japanese cruisers had bombarded Henderson relentlessly, ADM Kondo, for whatever reason, was sure that Henderson would be silenced and he would have little to worry about in the waters offshore.  He was wrong.The night, unlike the Friday the 13th battle, was clear and moonlit by a quarter moon, enough to see visually, but also enough darkness to hide if need be.As the battleships eased into the sound, radio watch picked up a transmission that has now become famous:Unknown voice aboard a US PT Boat confirmed they were tracking a target in the sound…TF 64: “This is Lee.”PT: “Who is Lee?”At this, ADM Lee grabbed the handset and broadcast himself in the clear: “Cactus, this is Lee.  Tell your big boss Ching Lee is here and wants the latest information.”PT Boat Skipper: “There go two big ones, but I don’t know whose they are.”Lee: “Refer your big boss about Ching Lee, Chinese, catchee? Call off your boys.”PT: “Identity established.  We are not after you.”Lee: “Peter Tare, this is Lee.  Stand clear, we are coming through.”Well, stand by, Glenn, here they comeAboard BB56, the radar picture began to take shape as Kondo’s force entered the sound.At around 2230 hours on November 14, the SG radar system aboard the Washington indicated targets north-northwest making 21 knots in two columns at a range of 18,000 yards.As the news was relayed to Lee, he smiled, looked at CAPT Davis and said, “Well, stand by, Glenn, here they come.”Such coolness under fire, and a supreme confidence in his and his crew’s abilities…Davis gave the order to load the main battery, and aboard both 56 and 57, the weapons were loaded and trained to starboard as the radar tracked the incoming targets…Kondo had arranged his ships in 3 groups actuallyKirishima, Atago and Takao were the center groupNagara and 6 DDs were the screening forceSendai and 3 DDs were the sweeping force ordered to sweep the sound for any US shipsIt was this third group that 56 was tracking at this time…At 2313 hours, the waiting ended. When the enemy was visually sighted from the Washington at a range of 11,000 yards, Admiral Lee called South Dakota’s Captain Gatch over the radio and gave him permission to fire. Lee put the radio down, turned to Davis and ordered, “Open fire when ready.”When the indicator lights in main battery plot flashed green, Harvey Walsh gave the order, “Open Fire.”Both 56 and 57 opened fire within seconds of each other.56’s first salvo was an over, less than 30 seconds later her next salvo was a straddle, her third salvo showed a flicker on the radar scope, indicating a hit which actually did not occur on Sendai.The Japanese, aware of the presence of American ships, but unaware of the presence of American battleships seemed to panic at the sight of enormous geysers of water sprouting around Sendai.  SoDak’s radio snoopers heard “Japanese voices, excited and very numerous.”Sendai and her escorts, put about and got the hell out of there…At 2322 hours, the American van of DDs engaged Japanese DDs and Nagara of the screening force.Within 10 minutes, both Walke and Preston are hit by accurate Japanese gunfire, and of course, torpedoes.Preston may have also been a victim of BB56’s secondary battery fusilladeDD Benham has her bow blown off by a Long Lance and sinks later the next day.DD Gwin is hit in her engine spaces and retires from the fightADM Lee orders all of his remaining DDs to retire at 2348, leaving the 2 US BBs as the only opposition.Japanese DD Ayanami is taken under fire by BB56’s secondary battery and is repeatedly hit and eventually sinksCredit for her sinking goes to BB56 and her secondary battery, although she actually shares credit with DD GwinSouth Dakota in a world of troubleAt roughly the same time that all this is happening, SoDak goes dark.SoDak’s after turret had just fired when all of a sudden, power went out across ship.The ship’s chief engineer had tied down the circuit breakers, against regulations, and when the main battery went off, the concussion was such that it tripped the breakers in series, knocking power out throughout the ship.At this time, BB56 turns to avoid running through the scattered remnants of her DD escort, and when she does she passes behind the burning wrecks, keeping out of the Japanese eye.As she does, her crewmen on deck throw life rafts and life jackets to the Americans bobbing in the water.Supposedly a 56 sailor hears a survivor holler, “Get after em Washington!” as she passes through the debris at 26 knots…The blind SoDak turns as well to avoid the wrecks, but she turns to the outside of the burning hulks and when she does, the burning US DDs silouhette her for all of the world to see.3 minutes after SoDaks power failed, it was restored.  It is said that the confusion aboard caused Gatch’s ship to become a tactical punching bag, but who knows…The Japanese execute a series of confusing maneuvers, both in response to the attack on the US DDs and the  report of US BBs in the sound by visual detection.In the ensuing maneuvers, Kondo’s screening and sweeping force both move out of effective range for the fight, leaving Kirishima and the two CAs aloneKirishima turns on her searchlight and illuminates SoDak.  When this happens, SoDak immediately takes heavy enemy fire, especially from Takao and Atago, as they pour 8 inch fire into her upper-works setting her afire from 5,000 yards.At the same time, Kirishima finally opens fire (announcing her presence) and hits SoDak in her after turret essentially knocking it out as it doesn’t respond any longer.Her main battery out of commission again because of another power failure, her secondaries bark in local control and do score hits on Atago but do little damage.SoDak eventually does restore power again and unleashes her main battery at Kirishima.  It is unknown, but unlikely, that she hit her.In the pounding, SoDak takes at least 26 hits, mostly 8, 6 and smaller caliber hits in her upper works that started many fires and threatened her secondary powder magazine.She also suffers 1 14 inch hit in her after turret.  Having taken a beating and on fire, Gatch orders SoDak to come about and retreat from the area. He does this without telling Lee by the way.Washington slays the giantAs all of the previous mentioned action is happening, BB56’s radar had steadily been tracking a large target off her starboard beam.Lee was aware that SoDak was blacked out and he was concerned that the target might actually be SoDak as 56’s radar had lost track of her because of poor placement aboard ship.When Kirishima switched her searchlights on, the target was confirmed visually as hostile.At a range of only 8,400 yards BB56 emerged from the cover of her burning DD escort and unleashed  a full nine gun broadside at KirishimaShell splashes in the water caused Hank Seeley to believe they had missed the target. AAR stated that the first salvo missed, but 2019 underwater surveillance confirmed that Kirishima suffered several below the waterline hits, including the recorded “miss” from 56’s first salvo.Because of his supposed “miss”, Seeley nudges the main battery up a smidge and 56’s second salvo, which was fired less than 20 seconds after the first, slammed into Kirishima’s superstructure, obliterating her third level bridge and everyone in it.Washington’s third salvo was deadly accurate. Five of Washington’s shells struck Kirishima amidships, with one shell penetrating below her waterline, causing massive flooding. The five amidships hits blew open bulkheads, penetrated well inside the ship, and exploded in close proximity to Kirishima’s secondary battery-ammunition magazine, causing ship-threatening fires and leaving 30-foot holes in the deck near the casemates.Another salvo from Washington scores more hits.  Another below the water line blast causes more internal flooding, and yet more below water line hits occur.Another hit penetrates the steering room causing severe damage inside, and yet another detonates through her stern and helps to jam the rudder.As the distance continues to close, 56’s secondaries join in on the beating and pour 5 inch shell fire into Kirishima’s superstructure, even scoring 2 hits on her hull that do little to no damage.  No one knows amount of damage done by the secondaries, but it had to have been frightful.Kirishima manages to return fire at Washington, but misses, her 14 inch shells passing through 56’s rigging, tearing down some of her signal flags and nothing more.  An inch is as good as a mile…Kirishima spotters say they hit BB56 at least 10 times with the main battery, yet don’t touch her in reality.Through the melee of noise, smoke, and fire, ADM Lee said, “If you can see anything to shoot at, go ahead.” The leviathan’s 16-inch guns opened up again, striking Kirishima at a range of 7,850 yards. Two shells struck the forward 14-inch turret of Kirishima at the same time, destroying the weapon. More shells found their mark up forward as even more shells struck farther aft, the coup de grace a 16-inch shell exploding under Kirishima’s keel, permanently jamming her rudder 80 degrees to starboard and eliminating all control of the vessel as Kirishima tries to retire and shows her stern to Washington.Utterly beaten to a bloody pulp, Kirishima begins to circle helplessly, still taking hits from Washington’s guns.Post war wreck analysis confirmed at least 21 16 inch shell hits on Kirishima’s hull and what could be seen of her upper-works (which isn’t much).Kirishima slides down by the bow as she is scuttled and detonates under her forward barbettes absolutely destroying the forward part of the ship.Kondo orders a withdrawal  as BB56 tracks a cruiser with her forward turrets and a DD with her after turret.  Lee, still not knowing the location of SoDak does not allow the main battery to open fire.Kondo orders a torpedo attack as his ships withdraw, torpedoes pass close to BB56, but all miss her.At 0033 Lee orders a retirement still observing torpedoes in her wake.By 0110 the Japanese were gone…End of battle…SoDak suffers 38 men KIA, and a further 60 wounded.Washington suffers 1 punctured eardrum and 1 hand abrasionThe US DDs suffer losses in excess of 200 KIA.Japanese casualties are unclear, but were excessive.Had Lee not shot the Japanese to pieces, they would have bombarded Henderson and the troop convoy inbound would have likely unloaded relatively unmolested.Regardless, Tanaka orders his convoy to continue south, where they eventually run aground, those that survive the coming aerial onslaught the following day.Implications on the rest of the campaign… 

The hectic and high stakes month of October 1942 has finally wound down and passed into history.  And with it, the lives of nearly 400 Americans at The Battles of Henderson Field and Santa Cruz and an astonishing figure of nearly 3,500 Japanese lives at those same events.  The Japanese have thrown their very best efforts at Guadalcanal in October, both ashore and off shore, and have come up short.  The devastating defeat ashore was followed by a tactical victory, but strategic defeat off shore and has left the Japanese in no better position than they were in August…just thousands of lives shorter.As November dawns, Guadalcanal is still a hot bed of activity.  Fighting on the ground has eased off in intensity, but is still a fairly constant struggle, although nowhere near as bad as the previous several months have been, but the Japanese aren’t done yet.  At sea, however, the Japanese are also not through with their efforts to both smash the American fleet and destroy Henderson Field.   The Japanese will try several more times this month, specifically twice in back-to-back nights.The first of these epic naval clashes occurs on, of all dates, Friday the 13th.  The confused and chaotic melee that follows will be known as the Bar Room Brawl.Talking Points:The Set UpThe Imperial Army had planned to reinforce Guadalcanal yet again with a large troop convoy that consisted of nearly 7,000 well trained troops, 31,500 artillery shells, and food for 30,00 men for 20 days.The convoy was made up of 11 transport ships under reliable ADM Tanaka with a heavy escort of 12 DDs.Before the planned troop landing which theoretically would occur on November 14, the Japanese would send 2 fast BBs (Hiei and Kirishima) to shell Henderson with special frag shells that would destroy aircraft and supplies as well as men.The Japanese bombardment unit was commanded by ADM Abe and consisted of:2 BB’s Kirishima and Hiei1 CL11 DDsThese ships were timed to sail on November 12 and arrive off Lunga Point just after midnight on Friday the 13thIronically enough, at the same time, the Americans were also preparing a reinforcement convoy bound for Guadalcanal.2 separate convoys were to bring over 5,000 troops and much needed supplies to Guadalcanal, they were to be heavily escorted by American cruisers and destroyers.Thanks to intel, the US knew that the Japanese were preparing another reinforcement convoy and deployed this heavily escorted convoy to do 2 things.Deliver troopsDisrupt the Japanese planned troop delivery with the surface ships assigned as convoy escortKelly Turner was in command of the convoy and the 2 separate escorts were commanded by ADM Daniel Callaghan aboard USS San Francisco, and Cape Esperance victor ADM Norman Scott aboard USS Atlanta.The American convoy reached Guadalcanal on the morning of the 12th and unloaded the precious cargo and supplies.A Japanese scout named LCDR Mitzi observed the convoy unloading and sent a message to combined fleet HQ that also noted a surface force of  3 BBs, 3 CAs, 11 DDs off Lunga.Japanese ADM Ugaki surmised that the surface force would probably try and intercept the Japanese the following night, however in a staff meeting it was stated that the Americans would “go away as usual” and Abe’s force was not notified of the American’s presence.Despite this lack of warning, Japanese air assets decided to strike the Americans, sending 16 torpedo armed Bettys, and 30 Zeros to hit the forceWarned by coast watchers ahead of time, Turner got his ships underway as 20 F4Fs and 8 P39s scrambled to meet the Japanese inboundIn the ensuing air battle, the Betty’s missed their targets and were ravaged by the F4Fs who claimed 17 bombers and 6 fighters while actually downing 11 Betty’s and 1 Zero to the loss of 3 F4Fs and 1 P39.Turner was later rewarded with a very accurate sighting report of Abe’s force to which he decided to shred his transports of any sizeable escort and order these same escorts to intercept and attack Abe’s extremely powerful forceTurner assigned Daniel Callaghan as Task Force Commander, despite the fact that Scott had over 6 weeks sea time in these very waters and had won a night time naval fight. He assigned Callaghan because he was 15 days (!) senior to Scott.The stage was set.  An American force that consisted of:2 CAs3 CLs 7 DDsWould intercept Abe’s bombardment force under the command of an Admiral who had virtually no experience in combat at all on board a CA that still fielded inadequate radar (USS SF)Let’s talk about the radar again here, Scott should have been in charge, but at the very least, Callaghan should have embarked aboard Helena with her SG radar and not Frisco.Collision in the DarkThe night was moonless, black in complete and total darkness…which dam sure didn’t help with ship ID in the fight that would come.The American battle line was laid out such:Cushing, Laffey, Sterett, O’Bannon, Atlanta, Frisco, Portland, Helena, Juneau, Aaron Ward, Barton, Monssen, FletcherCallaghan laid his forces out much like Scott did at Cape Esperance, mainly for maneuvering in the confined waters more than anything else.Whereas, he should have laid his forces out with Fletch, O’Bannon, Helena, Juneau and Portland in the van because of the new SG radar systems aboard.The Japanese had split their forces into two separate groups, due mainly to horrible weather that caused some of his units to lose visibility and become detached and spread out.ADM Abe, believing he would not encounter American vessels, ordered his ships to load their weapons for a surface bombardment.BBs Hiei and Kirishima loaded, what amounted to frag shells in their 14 inch rifles, not AP.At around 0130 aboard Helena, her SG radar showed two distinct formations of enemy ships some 27,100 yards distant.Helena relayed this information to Callaghan, who generally seemed to ignore it, instead relying on Cushing’s potential visual contact.Tremendous mistake here.  This goes back to what we have said in the past that certain CO’s, ADMs and the like did not put any faith in the new technology and in some cases, specifically this one, it would cost them their lives.Back aboard Helena, CAPT Gilbert Hoover was beginning to get highly irritated at the fact that Callaghan was ignoring the electronic picture his ship was presenting.  Cape Esperance all over again.The range to target rapidly decreased from 10,000 yards to 5,000 to 4,000 as both forces literally steamed right at one another.  At 0140 Cushing reported to Callaghan that a “ship is crossing bow from port to starboard, range 4,000 yards maximum.”  Then another passed, and another and so on.  Still Callaghan held fire.Range fell to 2,000 yards and Cushing asked via TBS, “Should I let them have a couple of fish?” Callaghan denied the request, which was followed by another from Laffey, which he too denied. Instead saying, “Stand by to open fire.”By 0147 Callaghan’s formation was falling apart as individual skippers were veering out of formation so as to avoid collision with vessels visually identified as Japanese by the van.“Open Fire!”A Japanese searchlight, probably from Hiei, pierced the night and focused directly on Helena.  Just ahead another searchlight from a Japanese DD, probably Akatsuki, focused on Atlanta.Aboard Atlanta, CAPT Jenkins gave the pre-war order to “counter illuminate” the target.  His gunnery officer LCDR William Nickerson heard this, and shouted into his headset, “Fuck that! Open Fire!”  Guns visually ranged in on the enemy DD and opened fire at a range estimated to be between 600-1,000 yards.When Atlanta opens fire…everything goes to hell, everybody opens fire.  As the first to fire, Atlanta comes under fire from several Japanese ships and is hit in her torpedo director.  Lloyd Mustin Asst Gunnery Officer, is visually watching his shells splash just short of the Japanese DD.  He orders visual corrections and watches through his binocs as the rounds start tearing into the Japanese at a range of under 600 yards.Akatsuki is the target and she is absolutely smeared by gunfire from Atlanta, Frisco and Helena. The following Japanese DDs fired their torpedoes at Atlanta just before Ikazuchi was hit by 8 inch gunfire, probably from Frisco.  She doesn’t sink and retires.Atlanta is hit by several ships, and at least 1 torpedo and drifts into the field of fire of USS San Francisco.Completely out of touch with the situation unfolding before him, Callaghan gives his infamous order, “Odd ships commence fire to starboard, even to port.”  This order throws several ships, who were either tracking or firing at targets, to disengage and swing turrets to different targets.Hindsight is always 20/20, but its abundantly clear that Callaghan was out of his element.Cushing, still in the lead, is rapidly engaging targets when she is blasted by shell fire from a number of enemy ships.  As she is hit, BB Hiei passes close to starboard.  Cushing flashes a voice warning of the enemy BB over TBS and is then blasted by Hiei’s secondaries, drifting to a halt and eventually going down.Laffey is now in the lead, if there actually is a lead, and passes Hiei so close that her superstructure towers over her as if you were on the ground looking at a skyscraper, less than 1,000 yards away.Laffey opens fire with her 5 inchers.  Despite Hiei’s belt armor, the 5 inchers are so close that they actually penetrate and explode within.Individual AA gunners aboard Laffey opened fire with 20mm Oerlikon mounts and poured their fire into Hiei’s portholes and riddled her upperworks with automatic weapons fire, hitting and killing Japanese sailors topside.ADM Abe took shrapnel to his face from American gunfireAs Laffey passes Hiei and avoids collision, she is taken under fire from Kirishima, who smacks her with 14 inch shellfire.  At the same time, she is hit by a torpedo on the stern which cripples her.Sterett sights in on a Japanese DD, opens fire and watches her stern catch fire and begin to slow.  Almost immediately, Sterett is caught in a cross fire from several Japanese ships, including Hiei.  She takes numerous hits, slows and retires.  She winds up taking a total of 11 hits, all on the port side, all in her upperworks.Friendly Fire, and Cruisers versus HieiAs Atlanta drifted, having been struck by Japanese gunfire and 2 torpedoes, she moved directly into Frisco’s line of fire.  From a range of about 3500 yards, San Francisco fired at least two full broadsides at Atlanta, while she was attempting to fire at a Japanese vessel just beyond her.  The 8 inch shell hits were absolutely devastating, shredding Atlanta’s superstructure and killing Admiral Norman Scott.Blame can’t really be put on Frisco for this.  The battle had devolved into a melee, a chaotic mess in which even radar could not pick enemies from freindlies.  The chaos gave the battle its nickname, when in an AAR an officer likened it afterwards to "a barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out.”It can be assumed that Callaghan witnessed Atlanta take fire from Frisco, as he immediately ordered “Cease Fire Own Ships!”After Callaghan’s order, which most ships ignored by the way, Helena was tracking targets via radar, large targets, and requested permission to fire.Helena opens fire on Hiei, aiming at her superstructure, letting her 6 inch weapons loose on automatic continuous mode, the “machine gun cruiser” pours over 200 rounds a minute into Hiei’s superstructure, setting it ablaze.Callaghan and Frisco now open flank speed and slides right by Hiei at 2200 yards away on her starboard beam and Kirishima 3000 yards distant on the starboard bow.Frisco unleashes a broadside at Hiei which answers in kind.  Hiei’s shells strike just short of Frisco, her bombardment shells exploding on contact with the water.The only way to save Frisco’s life is to pour it into Hiei, which is exactly what she does.  Pouring salvo after salvo into the battlewagon’s hull and superstructure.By pounding Hiei, Frisco now has the full attention of the 2 Japanese BBs.She takes a frightful beating from the Japanese, suffering over 45 shell hits, 12 of them 14 inch hits.Frisco avoids Davey jones’ Locker due to the fact that the Japanese BBs are firing incendiary and HE rounds designated for bombardment as opposed to AP rounds.Still, she takes an absolute pounding.Hiei’s 3rd salvo strikes Frisco’s bridge, utterly obliterating nearly everyone inside of it, including Callaghan and CAPT Cassin Young.LCDR Bruce McCandless, senior officer in the bridge is the only survivor.  He is instructed by senior DC officer CDR Schonland to command the ship as Schonland is too busy fighting flooding and stability issues aboard ship.Frisco survives because of Schonland and McCandless, who both receive the MOH.Juneau enters the fray, sighting the burning Hiei, passing close aboard and pouring 5 inch and automatic weapons fire into the flaming battleship.Shortly after opening fire, Juneau engages Harusame with gunfire and gets hit, almost dead amidships, by her torpedo which fractures her keel.  She then limps away...we will hear more from her later...The Battle OverAt 0226, CAPT Gilbert Hoover of Helena, now Senior Officer Afloat, orders his forces to retire.  At almost the same time, Abe does the same.  After 40 minutes of the most confused, chaotic fireworks show in history, the battle ends as both forces limp away.Abe, unaware that only 2 US ships, Helena and Fletcher, could offer any type of realistic resistance decides to turn away and not bombard Henderson.  His force has been shot to pieces but is still powerful as Kirishima is relatively undamaged as are at least 5 other ships.  Still, due to heavy damage suffered aboard his own ship, Hiei, he decides to retire.He is crucified for this decision by Yamamoto, who relieves him of command.At 0344 Yamamoto orders the convoy to turn around and go back to the Shortlands.As the sun rises, so do American aircraft from Henderson Field.SBDs and TBFs roar in to finish off the crippled Hiei, just north of Savo at a distance of about 14 miles.56 sorties from SBDs and TBFs, as well as 14 B17s attacked Hiei and other cripples in Iron Bottom Sound.As the attacks increased throughout the day, Abe ordered Hiei scuttled as she was listing heavily from the torpedoes dropped by the TBFs.The final tally is frightful:Japanese:1 BB and 2 DDs sunk4 DDs damagedBetween 5-800 men KIAUS:2 CLs and 4 DDs sunk2 CAs damaged, 2 DDs damaged1439 men KIADespite the disparity in ships sunk and men lost, the battle is considered a US victory because of the failure of the Japanese to complete their mission objective.JuneauJuneau and Gilbert Hoover’s decision to steam on…

This week Bill and I have a special guest with us, he’s been here before and we always love to have him, he’s the one, the only, my good buddy, Jon Parshall.This week we are going to take a step back from the battlefront, into the backwaters if you will, to discuss some of the leaders of WATCHTOWER, the men who made the decisions, for better or worse, that propelled, and sometimes didn’t propel the all-encompassing campaign.Talking PointsGhormleyNimitz nominates Ghormley as COMSOPAC for future operations in April 1942Ghormley had previously acted as a special naval observer in Britain and desired to stay in the European theater.Highly intelligent and a savy negotiator, he had almost zero tactical command experience.He had never held an operational post despite being a Vice AdmiralGhormley was in over his head as COMSOPACGhormley receives word to prepare for what would become WATCHTOWER and immediately greets it with pessimism. Nimitz showed a lot of confidence in Ghormley initially.  Essentially granting him free reign to establish himself and his operations to prepare for the offensive.The very next day, Nimitz received a copy of a letter from Ghormley to King that stated that the timeline for the operation was “unrealistic” and that both Ghormley and MacArthur were doubtful as to the success of the operation and had the “gravest doubts” about the plan.This had to have shaken Nimitz’s confidence in Ghormley as a leader.Regarding the July pre-invasion meeting: the sheer fact that Ghormley declined to attend this incredibly important meeting personally should have been a red flag.Despite being told by Nimitz to command “in person” Ghormley sends Callaghan.This pattern of non-personal leadership causes issues right away…The issue of Turner and Fletcher going after one another in the July meeting over how long the CVs should remain in the area is one example of how things turned to shit quickly.Ghormley “suggested” to Fletcher to leave 2 VF Squadrons on Henderson if the field is ready. BUT…if enemy CVs appear then they are the priority.  As a result of this confusing memo, Fletcher thought he had the approval to maneuver independently and Turner thought that COMSOPAC had assured him that Fletcher would cover the landings until Henderson was operational.  Had Ghormley been present, his intentions would have become known by his own voice.  But alas, that was not to be…After Savo, which you could technically throw blame on Ghormley, Ghormley acted scared and ordered his surface forces all the way back to Noumea, 1000 miles away.He told Nimitz he could not protect the sea lanes requested air support.In truth, Ghormley had no fucking clue what was going on…In messages to Nimitz, Ghormley constantly pleaded for reinforcements, always stating that the forces on Guadalcanal were just barely hanging on…Consistently, Nimitz urged Ghormley to be more active…yet he sat on the Argonne and roasted in his hot quartersMost of his message stank of anxiety and near desperation, and he never seemed to know what was going on.Had he gone to Guadalcanal, maybe just once, he would have had a better understandingNimitz decided to visit Ghormley on September 25 he arrived 3 days later to find the logistics situation a complete mess.When Nimitz met with Ghormley, the latter’s physical state shocked Nimitz.He was pale, and gaunt, he had dental problems, lived aboard an old, cramped ship with no air circulation and refused to acquire land space for his HQ because of the French not wanting to give the land over to him.Nimitz flew to Guadalcanal the next day, returned to Noumea and told Ghormley how optimistic the men were, and urged him to be more assertive.When Nimitz got back to Pearl he asked some of his staff if Ghormley should be relieved. They all agreed.Halsey was preparing to reclaim his old position aboard CV6, when Nimitz nominated him to King to replace Ghormley.  King replied with one word.  Approved.Nimitz ultimately believed that Ghormley was too timid and out of touch.  Not to say he was physically scared, but he was too timid to commit forces that were needed when they were needed at the right place.HalseyHalsey takes command on October 18.  He reads the directive from Nimitz twice to make sure he is reading it right and then exclaims, “Jesus Christ and General Jackson.  This is the hottest potato they’ve ever given me!”Morale amongst the fighting men ashore and at sea immediately goes through the roof once word gets out that Halsey is in command.Halsey enters the fray at the most critical time of the entire campaign.  His leadership, fighting spirit and bull-headedness are exactly what the doctor ordered.Almost immediately, Halsey asserted himself.  He seized land ashore and set up a permanent base of operations, which pissed off the French.Then, two weeks after he took command, he got in a plane and flew to Guadalcanal.The Marines ashore ate it up.Before his Guadalcanal vacation, however, his forces became engaged in what would become Santa Cruz.

This week Bill and I have a special guest with us, he’s been here before and we always love to have him, he’s the one, the only, my good buddy, Jon Parshall.If you’ve been listening to the podcast as of late, you are well aware that we are making our way through the slug fest that was the Guadalcanal campaign.  While the fighting ashore has raged on and off between pitched engagements, the seas around the Canal have been anything but quiet.  Savo Island in August was a debacle for the US Navy, the carrier forces under Admiral fletcher landed some fairly significant blows on the Japanese carrier force at Eastern Solomons, and Admiral Norman Scott finally exacted some revenge for Savo at the Battle of Cape Esperance.  The US Navy has seen it’s share of victories, as well as defeats in these bloody waters.  And while the fighting has been significant at sea…it ain’t over.  Not even close.  The calendar now sits in October 1942, October 26 exactly.  And ashore, the Japanese have launched a massive offensive to finally push the Marines and Army off Guadalcanal.  The October offensive and the fighting that takes place ashore will be remembered as the Battle of Henderson Field.  The fighting at sea that takes place only a day later, all coinciding with the offensive ashore, will be called the Battle of Santa Cruz.Talking Points:Japanese Preparations and Plans Pre-Battle:The combined fleet sorties from Truk on October 11.  The force is very large, the largest Japanese force that has put to sea since Midway and consists of 4 CVs and 1 light CV3 Fleet CVs1 Light CV4 BBs8 CAs2 CLs24 DDsThe Japanese had planned that the naval force that was now at sea would not necessarily support the operation ashore, but would directly benefit from the success of the ground offensiveThat being said, once Hyakutake’s infantry had captured Henderson, the Japanese combined fleet would then be free from any attack from land based air.The pre-sailing plans called for the Japanese so-called Support Force to make a high-speed run into the Guadalcanal area to intercept and destroy any American fleet units that would come to the rescue of the infantry following the Japanese land-based offensive’s success.This is part of the reason why Kongo and Haruna blasted the shit out of Henderson on October 14-15.  Both to soften the defenses, destroy the airfield and also, hopefully draw the Americans out to fight.Japanese intel, which we have not talked about very much, had deduced via traffic patterns that at least 1 US CV was in the Canal area.Based on traffic patterns, the Japanese had seen a large flurry of messages go out to a “powerful unit” south of Guadalcanal that would receive the messages and maintain radio silence.This of course is CV8Again, based on traffic patterns, the Japanese had deduced that another major fleet unit had sailed from Pearl Harbor on or about Oct 15.This is the newly repaired CV6The Japanese estimated that this task force was headed south as well to join up with the other “ghost” forceJapanese. Intel also read US newspapers and listened to the news, as US officials ignorantly declared on October 20 that US Naval forces off Guadalcanal were preparing for a “sea clash”The Land influences the SeaDelays ashore from the Japanese 17th Army (future Henderson Field offensive force) caused Y-Day to be pushed from October 19 to the 22nd.  Incidentally, Hiyo suffers a fire in her engineering spaces that causes her to return to port and not take part in the planned upcoming action.17th Army again delays the offensive until the 24th further irritating the IJN.The delay by the Army forced the Navy to delay its attack which allowed CV6 to rejoin the American forces off Guadalcanal on October 24 and thus restoring some parity to any upcoming carrier battle.US Forces for battleUS forces are under the overall command of ADM Thomas Kinkaid TF 16 under Kinkaid has:CV61 CA1 CL 8 DDs 1 BB (SoDak)TF 17 under ADM George Murray has:CV82 CAs2 CLs 6 DDs Previous to CV6 returning from Pearl, CV8 was the only US CV in the area.CV8 was still, despite having been at Midway, an unexperienced CV.That being said, her aircrew was a mix of veterans and newbies.VS-8 skipper Gus Widhelm Veteran of Coral Sea and hit and run raids with VS-5Fantastic leaderVB-8 SBD pilot Clayton FisherVeteran of the Flight to Nowhere, June 4 afternoon raid and Mogami/Mikuma raid on June 6, but otherwise relatively fresh CV6 had just returned to the fleet after having been patched up after Eastern SolomonsCV6 still retained her well-trained deck crews, DC parties and the like.  Battle tested, CV6 would need all the help she could get in the upcoming fightWhile a veteran carrier, she deployed a brand-new air group, AG 10.Air Group 10, although new, is rife with veterans of different engagementsVF-10, better known as the Grim Reapers, is led by the legendary Jimmy Flatley and hosts names like:Jack LepplaDon Flash GordonWhitey Feightner and most importantly, Swede VejtasaBucky Lee led VS-10, not so much a veteran, but an incredible leader.  He had with him names that were both familiar and would become familiarBirney StrongMartin “Red” CarmodyAgain, technically a new air group, Air Group 10 would prove to be, arguably, the finest Air Group put to sea in 1942, and maybe the warThe Battle draws nearNight of October 24-25 the Japanese send out searches to find the suspected US CVs but do not find them.  They do detect ADM Willis Lee’s BB56 but do not attack due to extreme rangeAround noon on October 25 US PBYs spot 2 Japanese CVsMonitoring the radio intercepts in Noumea, Halsey reads the sightings and messages Kinkaid “STRIKE! REPEAT STRIKE!”Amplifying reports allowed Kinkaid to launch at 1430 and again at 1520 his main strikeThe Japanese turned north, but radio silence does not allow Kinkaid to recall his strikers. This ends up, not so well, in that the majority of the strike gets lost and is, thankfully, shepherded back to CV6 by Swede Vejtasa who recalls that CV6 has an oil leak, spots the leak and follows it, at wave-top height, back to CV6 with the majority of the strike…at night.The Carrier Battle (Morning)Both sides readied search planes for a first light search patternDuring the night of 25-26, US PBYs spotted, and attacked, the Japanese including Zuikaku.  The PBYs missed, and their contact reports essentially went unheard.The Japanese got scouts off first, between 0415 and 0445.CV6 launched her own scouts around 0445 as well.  Kinkaid finally received the PBYs sighting report at 0512 but deemed the information old (which it was) and considered it to be inaccurate.One of CV6s scouts saw and approached one of Nagumo’s Kate scout planes, only 85 miles away from CV6, confirming the presence of Japanese CVs in the area. First BloodBucky Lee, skipper of VS-10 spotted Nagumo’s CVs at 0650 and climbed to attack altitude, but were driven off by CAPLee’s scouting report alerted every SBD in the area, and drove them towards the Japanese like flies to honeyRadioman Clarence Garlow heard Lee’s report, jotted it down and reported the contact to his pilot, Birney Strong.Birney and Eastern Solomons, pressure from Crommelin to attack and a bruise on his prideStrong diligently plotted the contact report, adjusted his fuel mixture for maximum distance and headed in the direction of the sighting.Showing off his supreme navigational skills, Strong found the enemy 20 minutes later as 2 of the 3 CVs in the area emerged from cloud cover.At the same time that Strong and his wingman Irvine approached, 2 other SBDs, one piloted by Red Carmody were being harassed by CAP Zeros, leaving Strong and Irvine wide open for a clear attack.Diving from 14,000 feet, at 0740, Strong popped in and out of clouds for the 30 seconds he dove.  At 1,500 feet the clouds parted and directly beneath him was the flight deck of Zuiho.Both Strong and Irvine planted their 500 pounders into the flight deck of Zuiho. The hits were not fatal, but did force her withdrawal.At 0658, Japanese scouts spot the HornetDespite the fact that the US spotted the Japanese first, it is the IJN that gets their strike off first (no surprise here)At 0725 Shokaku and Zuikaku launches their strikes, 62 aircraft led by MurataTalk about MurataComposition of the strikeAs the Japanese strike is on its way to Hornet, CV8 and a small CV6 strike passes them in the air.Let’s talk about how the US strikes during this entire battle are very piecemeal, unorganized and generally unpreparedAs the Hornet strikers pass the Japanese, Zeros from Zuiho break off and attack the CV6 formationThe TBFs are hit hard as their fighter protection was in the process of making S turns to keep up with the slow TBFs and were on the outward leg of the turn during the attackAt 0850 Hornet’s strike spotted Shokaku.  As the SBDs home in, they are hit again by Zuiho CAP, as well as Shokaku CAPGus Widhelm, strike leader, is shot down but later rescued.At the tail end of the formation is Clay FisherTalk about Clay’s experienceHornet’s strike, despite taking heavy casualties, is successful in hitting ShokakuJohn describe Shokaku damage 4-06 hits from 1000 poundersHornet Under AttackHornet receives word of the inbound strike from her outbound strikePoor coordination from CV6 and CV8 FDOs do not allow the CAP to engage in sufficient numbers to deter the incoming attack (Like Eastern Solomons)Japanese sight Hornet at 0855, but do not see CV6 as she dives into a rain squallHornet prepares for the attack, turns NE and dials up 31 knotsCAP engages at 15 miles but Vals break through and commence the attack at 0910First two Vals miss At 0912 Hornet is hit by three bombs within minutes1st bomb hits the flight deck and kills 60 men as it explodes 3 decks downMoments later another bomb struck the flight deck, this time exploding on the deck itself. The explosion blew an 11-foot hole in the deck, and the flying shrapnel killed another 30 of Hornet’s crew. Still the rain of bombs came. Hornet suffered yet another hit when another 550-pound bomb penetrated three decks below and exploded there, causing severe damage but no loss of life. Seconds later, a damaged “Val” dive-bomber, hit by Hornet’s own antiaircraft fire, plunged into the carrier’s stack, glancing off of the port leading edge of the stack and smacking into the flight deck, the engine and propeller embedded firmly into the sea-blue stained Douglas fir flight deck. All of the hits suffered by Hornet thus far had occurred in a blinding fast span of just over two minutes. As Hornet reels from the Val attack, the Kates come into viewDescribe the Kate attack led by MurataHammer and anvil attack0915 Hornet is struck by 2 torpedoes starboard1 Val, having already dropped its load, swerves around Hornet from astern, passes the bridge and makes a wingtip vertical turn to crash into her port bowAt 0925 the attack is over and Hornet is dead in the water and listingFires were under control by 10, and she is being prepared for a two by NorthamptonThe Big E under attackJapanese Vals spot CV6 at 1000. They commence their attack at about 1015, led by SekiLT Keiichi Arima, who had hit the Big E at Eastern Solomons, again dives on CV6 and scores yet another hit on the ship.  Dead center near the bow.  The bomb flew through the flight deck and exploded in the water, showering CV6 with shrapnel and starting fires in the focsleMinutes later another bomb hits CV6, near the after portion of the forward elevator exploding in the hangar deck killing 40 menWilliam PinckneyAfrican American of slight build- carried wounded up the ladders to safety before he himself passed out, both wounded and with 3rd degree burns.  Navy CrossA third bomb was a tooth rattling near miss that opened hull plates and 2 empty fuel bunkersBy 1020, the attack was over.At 1035 the Kates arrived.  One of the CAP pilots to engage was Swede VejtasaDuring the attack on Hornet, Swede engaged and shot down one of the Vals that was about to dive on CV8, as well as one of the Vals that attacked CV6.Still aloft and with the majority of his ammunition still available, Swede switched off his two outboard weapons so as to conserve ammo, climbed above the Kate’s altitude, dove into them and began picking them off one by one, dropping five of the bandits in about 15 seconds.His last target, another Kate, was riddled by Swede’s guns, but flew on.  The aircraft piloted by Takei Kiyomi, dropped down, flew over SoDak and deliberately crashed into USS Smith.  The dead aircraft slid off the ship but the torpedo cooked off, setting the destroyer ablaze.Smith, under the command of LCDR Hunter Wood, steered directly into the boiling wake of SoDak.  The enormous wake thrown up by the battleship sliding along at 27 knots extinguished the flames, allowing the plucky little DD to resume station and resume firing.Vejtasa is credited with downing 7 Japanese aircraft in that one CAP mission, a record that still stands today. He would be recommended for the MOH, but instead would receive his 3rd (!) Navy CrossCV6 dodges a total of 9 Japanese torpedoes, throughout her ordeal USS South Dakota (BB-57) keeps station, a scant 1,000 yards astern, matching every move she makes so as to provide AAA support with her new 40mm bofors guns.SoDak claims 26 kills, an unlikely mark, but nevertheless, her guns and her adroit maneuvering certainly helped keep the Big E afloat.The returning Japanese (what few manage to return) get back to their CVs and speak of the tremendous amounts of American AA.  Some of those who returned were visibly shaken and could not speak due to shock.The Battle OverAt 1135 with CV8 out of action and CV6 heavily damaged, Kinkaid withdraws, leaving CV8 under tow by Northampton and a few screeners.At 1235 CV6 resumes landing ops and recovers the remaining aircraft aloft with only one operable elevator.  LSO Robin Lindsey, performs his legendary “virtuoso” He receives word from the bridge to stop landing aircraft as the deck is clogged.  Knowing that the majority of the remaining aircraft are SBDs, he elects to literally pull the plug from his headset, ignore orders and bring the boys down.  Lindsey landed so many planes that he was landing the last batch on the last arresting wire, unfazed. Last to land was Swede catching the #1 wire, with 56 other aircraft jammed ahead of him on the deck.At 1520, with the majority of US forces leaving the field of battle, Hornet is attacked again.  She is struck by 1 torpedo from Junyo. At this point, the remaining crew abandons ship and she is ordered to be scuttled.2 US DDs fire over 400 rounds into CV8 as well as torpedoes, but she refuses to sink.  (Harder than woodpecker lips)Knowing the IJN is closing, the DDs beat feet and get the hell out of the area, leaving CV8 to her enemy. 2 Japanese DDs finally finish Hornet off.Implications on the CampaignClearly Santa Cruz is a US defeat, although we claimed victory.  We leave the field of battle to the enemy and suffer more damage…clear defeat…in one way, a victory in another although unseen at that time.Japanese air losses have now reached a critical level.  Through attrition at Coral Sea, Midway, eastern Solomons, and especially Santa Cruz, more than half of the elite aviators who started the war are now dead.  Japanese pilot training and replacement systems problemsFinal Tally:US- 1 CV sunk, 1 DD sunk, 1 CV heavily damaged.  1 BB lightly damaged, 1 CL and 2 DDs damaged.81 aircraft lost266 men KIAJapanese- 1 CV heavily damaged, 1light CV damaged, 1 CA damaged, 1 DD damaged99 aircraft lost400-500 men KIA18% of Zero pilots killed 50% of Val crews killed31% of Kate crews killedHorrendous aircrew lossesUS AA, with the introduction of the 40mm account for roughly half of these losses!

This week we would like to welcome back Dave Holland.  Dave is a former United States Marine, owns and runs the facebook and youtube channel called Guadalcanal: Walking a battlefield, a Solomon islands battlefield guide, and most importantly, a Guadalcanal expert.  Welcome back, Dave. We’ve been building up to this specific event for some time now, and so have the Japanese.  As you will recall, the last several months on Guadalcanal have seen steadily larger Japanese assaults hit that Marines with intents on grabbing Henderson Field.  The Japanese have tried and failed at Tenaru in August, tried and came very close at Edson’s Ridge in September, tried a few smaller attacks here and there the next several weeks, all failures.   Now we sit in late October and the Japanese have finally built enough forces on Guadalcanal for their almighty “decisive battle”.  All the Japanese thrusts, both ashore and at sea, have led to this operation.  This is the all or nothing, the decisive battle that the Japanese have clamored for and the Americans have been preparing for. This is the tipping point for better or worse.  Talking Points: Preparations:The Japanese had been steadily sending troops and supplies, more troops than supplies, to Guadalcanal for several weeks in anticipation of this specific offensive. The IJN fully supported the operation in just about any way that they could. On October 14, two battleships, Kongo and Haruna, along with screening vessels shelled Henderson Field in what was easily, the worst bombardment of the entire campaign.For nearly an hour and a half the two battleships fired over 900 rounds of 14 inch ammunition into the Lunga perimeter to knock out both airfields and destroy the Cactus Air Force’s aircraft.The shelling, known as “the Bombardment” by the Marines and soldiers ashore destroyed about half of the Cactus Air Force, and heavily damaged the two airfields, although one was back in operation in a few hours.This bombardment, as well as others in between, were all in conjunction with the large-scale offensive, all with plans to soften the defenses of the Americans. The Japanese had begun steadily moving troops into the attack area for many days, through the jungle (again), with the date of the main assault set for October 22, but would actually take place two days later.   To distract the Americans attention from the main location of the attack, the Japanese set up a series of diversionary infantry assaults. The Japanese were under the assumption that only 10,000 Americans were ashore, when in actuality the number was over 23,000. The Americans, aware that a large scale assault was eventually coming, had been preparing their defensive perimeter for weeks.The addition of the Army’s 164th Infantry Regiment gave Vandegrift a total of 13 infantry battalions to defend the perimeter in an almost continuous line.  Prelude to the main event: The Japanese had been moving their main assault force through the jungle, along a trail blazed by their engineers, for days…completely undetected by American forces. At dusk on October 23, one of the diversion attacks under COL Nakaguma, alomng with 9 tanks, attacked Marine defenses at the mouth of the Matinikau river. The Japanese tanks advanced near the river under the cover of an artillery barrage, however, the Japanese tanks were either disabled or destroyed by Marine anti-tank weapons on the opposite side of the river.   In response to the Japanese assault, and the Japanese artillery, 4 battalions of Marine artillery fired over 6,000 rounds at the Japanese inflicting heavy casualties and essentially stopping the assault at the river. In between the artillery detonations, Marines on the line could audibly hear Japanese screaming and moaning in pain.  The artillery, yet again, was devastating.It should be mentioned that while this was happening, Vandegrift was in Noumea at the bidding of newly appointed head banana, Admiral Halsey. We’ll get to Haley’s installation as main man in another episode when we discuss the leadership, both good and bad, of the Guadalcanal campaign with buddy and friend of the show Jon Parshall.  The Main Event October 24:At first light on October 24, Marines along the Matinikau caught sight of a long column of Japanese infantry  on a ridge to the left rear of the American lines.  COL Hanneken’s 2/7 redeployed to the rear and loosely tied in with the Marines of 3/7, albeit with a gap in the line. With the departure of Hanneken’s people, Chesty Puller was forced to stretch his single battalion over a regimental front.Only 700 men guarded an area designed for the protection from over 2,000.Puller, ever vigilant, personally walked the line inspecting each area, and each emplacement ordering improvements or movements as he saw fit in each area. As the Japanese under GEN Maruyama approached the area thought to be the correct position for attack, they began to get bogged down again by the jungle and now, also, heavy rain.The original kick off time for the attack, 1900, came and went as the Japanese continued to grope towards American lines. Finally, around 2200, elements of COL Shoji’s people stumbled into the leading elements of puller’s defenses.The fighting was short but fierce as Puller’s men eventually drove off the attackers, making no progress and gaining no ground.Oddly enough, the Japanese sent a message back to 2nd Division HQ that stated that Japanese infantry were moving into the grassy area at the edge of the airfield, when in reality, they were nowhere near the airfield and had certainly not broken through any lines.   COL Matsumoto called and stated that the airfield was now completely in Japanese hands. The 17th Army signaled “2300 Banzai-a little before 2300 the right wing captured the airfield.” This odd transmission is even stranger when one considers that the “right wing” had marginal, at best, participation in the event at all. Meanwhile, the left wing of the Japanese assault decidedly did attack.3rd Battalion 29th Infantry 11th Company under CAPT Katsumata reconned American lines in the area, found a soft spot between 2 MG emplacements and began a low crawl advance towards the American gap in the lines that was threaded with barbed wire. Japanese engineers began snipping the wire, unbeknownst to Americans, as the infantry low crawled through the grass to spring a surprise assault.Either due to delirium from the long march, fear, excitement or a combination of all 3, one lone Japanese let out a war cry that was soon picked up by many others alerting the Americans of their presence.   Almost instantly American machine gun fire erupted as did mortars. The Japanese now knowing the surprise was gone, leapt up and charged.  They began to get entangled in the barbed wire and were summarily annihilated by the Marines holding that area, which was Puller’s A Company at about 0100. Shortly thereafter, Japanese of the 9th Company moved to the left in the wake of the now dead 11thCompany and prepared to attack.After giving a great Banzai, the men of the 9th Company charged Marine lines, running straight through the prepared machine gun position firing lanes of Puller’s C Company. Within 5 minutes, the 9th Company was wiped out. John Basilone After the majority of the infantry were killed, American artillery began dropping, killing what was left of the Japanese. Puller was now aware that he was under attack from a large and well-seasoned Japanese force. He immediately fed 3 platoons from 3/164th into his lines to beef up the defenses.The National Guardsmen were led, sometimes by hand, through the torrential rain into the raging battle and fed piecemeal into the Marine lines, mixing with Marine units and holding their own in the fight. The only real success of the initial assaults came in the form of COL Furimaya’s assault at dawn. Realizing he had little to work with, Furimaya assembled what he could and personally led an assault that partially pierced the American lines.About 100 Japanese broke through and held a salient in the Marine lines that was eradicated in the morning. The Main Event October 25:By mid-morning, it was obvious that the Japanese were not through with their assault.  As a result, Marines and Army troops began to reshuffle their defenses and prepare for another night time assault.  For over an hour after 2000, the Japanese fired artillery into the positions of Puller’s 1/7 and LCOL Robert Hall’s 164th IR.  The majority of the assault fell on the soldiers of the 164th who held their ground again, all night long.  With the main push coming through an artery between the 2nd and 3rd BTLN 164th.  However, that artery was manned by a couple of Marine 37mm guns that were firing canister into the charging Japanese.A few Japanese parties broke the lines, but those were hunted down and killed by soldiers and Marines within hours. The return of Col Oka…His attacks concentrate on the area held by Hanneken’s 2/7Just before midnight, the Japanese surged forward against the Marine positions, finally culminating in an all out assault at 0300.Company F bore the brunt of this assault…Mitch PaigeDespite Paige’s heroics, Japanese scaled the slopes in front of F Company and ejected them from their positionsMAJ Odell Conoley led a group of Marines that counterattacked and eliminated the Japanese in the former positions of F Company. The Battle Over: Rough US casualties run about 90 KIA Japanese casualties are unknown in exact figures but estimates range in the neighborhood of 2,200 but probably more than that. The Japanese blamed the terrain, the march through the jungle, no air support, poor physical condition of the troops, inadequate supplies, faulty intel, etc, etc…all of which were accurate. While this isn’t the last land battle on Guadalcanal, it certainly was the most crucial to the Japanese, and the most decisive for the Americans.  For all intents and purposes, the land campaign, in terms of Japanese all-out assaults and large-scale operations, was over.  While there were plans for yet another assault in November, as we shall see, this does not end well for the Japanese. 

On the night of October 11, 1942, the Japanese sent two separate task forces heading in the direction of Guadalcanal.  The first task force was yet another troop/resupply convoy, the second task force, separate from the first yet in the same area at the same time, was a bombardment group assigned to shell Henderson field.   The Japanese, at this time, rulers of the seas around Guadalcanal, at least at night anyway, did not believe that an American task force would be in the area.  Latest intel told them that the Americans were off to the north and not near the beaches.  The intelligence was wrong.  Set Up:The Japanese have been making steady resupply runs, at night, to their forces on Guadalcanal since Edson’s Ridge.  These supply runs are the buildup for the eventual “showdown” that is scheduled to take place in mid to late October, October 20 to be exact.Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, of Savo fame, was in overall command of the operation set for the night of October 11-12.His field commander if you will, is Rear Admiral Aritomo GotoGoto is in command of the bombardment force which consists of:3 CAs and 2 DDs American intel has picked up on the Japanese plans to build forces for an all-out assault on the airfield.  Realizing that the Marines would be hard-pressed to hold out against another massive assault, Army General Millard Harmon, CO of US Army in the South Pacific, convinces Admiral Ghormley, whom we shall discuss at a later date, that the Marines need the Army’s help.Ghormley agrees and sends the Army’s 164th Infantry Regiment of the Americal Division to Guadalcanal to reinforce the Gyrenes.The date for the reinforcement is set for October 8 To protect the convoy carrying the soldiers, Ghormley assigns a cruiser/destroyer group under the command of Admiral Norman Scott to protect them.Scott’s forces include:2 CAs, 2 CLs, 5 DDsScott’s orders are to protect the convoy and once the Army is delivered, patrol the waters off Guadalcanal , intercept and then destroy anything that attempts to move inADM Scott knew that his mission carried with it, two tasks aside from the destruction of any Japanese forceDevelop night surface doctrineRevengeAs far as doctrine was concerned, Scott was aware that he and his units, lacked any real experience or training in night actions.  Therefore, his plan for action, should it be needed, was simple:Steam in a column with DDs ahead in the van, followed by the cruisersDDs would illuminate targets after radar contact, fire torpedoes and allow the CAs to concentrate on the enemy heavies Scott chose the USS San Francisco (CA-38) as his flagship, when he should have probably chosen either Helena or BoiseHelena and Boise were both equipped with new SG radar units, as opposed to the SC aboard FriscoFaulty intel said that the Japanese had sets that could track American radar and as a result he ordered that the radar on Frisco be turned off (!!)The Fight:On October 9 and 10th Scott was patrolling the area just north of Renell island, out of range of Japanese search planesEach night he entered Savo sound but turned back because of no reported Japanese activityOn the 11th, search planes from Guadalcanal sighted the incoming Japanese troop reinforcement convoy and reported it as 2 CAs and 6DDs.Scott receives this intel and prepares to maneuver his ships into the Savo island area to do battle that night At sundown, Scott orders his ship to GQ, determined to not be surprised by the Japanese like at Savo on August 8 Prior to action, Scott wisely decided to launch most of his scout planes and send them to Guadalcanal.This was a clear lesson learned at Savo as a result of the avgas fires that stared aboard the US cruisers and illuminated them for the Japanese to see What couple of scout planes he still had, he launched around 2200 to scout ahead of his task force. The night was clear and cloudless, but there was no moon to add ambient light to the battlefield, thus making visibility poor.Scott set his formation for battle as follows:DDs Farenholt, Duncan and Laffey leading:CA San Francisco, CL Boise, CA Salt Lake City, and CL Helena followed by:DDs Buchanan and McCalla The Japanese were completely unaware that an American force was closing on them.In actuality Japanese submarine I-26 was on the surface and sighted the force, but did not report it as she chose to dive and make an attack (which she ultimately didn’t do anyway) At 2250 SF’s float plane reported “1 large, 2 small vessels 16 miles from Guadalcanal” Based on this report, Scott executed a turn in order to cross the Japanese’s TExplain crossing the T The Japanese formation was led by CA Aoba, Furataka, and KinugasaDD Fubuki and Hatsuyuki held screen Around 2332 hours, Helena’s radar picked up the Japanese ships, Boise and Salt Lake City also picked up the Japanese on radarScott was confused by the radar reports and initially didn’t trust themThis is huge and will come in to play in November as well.  This generation of US CO’s did not have experience in radar, nor did they trust the abilities of the new technology.  There were only a handful of officers who did trust radar, and again, that would come to play in the next month. 2345 hours SF picks up the enemy on radar and finally Scott believes what he is being toldJapanese are only 5,000 yards awayLookouts on Helena spot the enemy visually at the same time An Ensign in radar plot in Helena impatiently asked the ship’s navigator, “What the hell are we going to do?  Board them?”CAPT Gilbert Hoover of Helena wasted no time and without orders from Scott decided to open fire at 2346Helena let loose with all 15 of her 6 inch guns at one time… The Japanese under ADM Goto finally sighted the American formation at a range of 10,000 yards.  He was concerned that the ships may be friendly so he ordered a turn and a flash of recognition signalsAs the Japanese signalmen aboard Aoba flashed the message, Helena’s shells tore into her superstructure. Back aboard Helena, all her guns were firing, but not in salvo.  Each turret was operating almost independently in what was called “automatic-continuous mode”.  The result was unreal…The Helena’s gun crews had their weapons loaded and fired in such rapidity that the Japanese later believed that the Americans had a cruiser with automatic weapons.  The Japanese suspected the Americans of having “Machine gun cruisers.” Aboard Salt Lake City, her 8 inch guns opened fire on Aoba from 4,000 yards away, her second salvo smashed Aoba and SLC’s directors reported, “No splashes, all hits.”  SF opened fire on a DD from 4,500 yards away.  At this time, the entire American column was engaged in a gun fightSalvo fire was almost non existent as each gun and their gun crews worked independently and each ship fired in a staccato cadence that made the night look like a low hanging lightning storm had enveloped the American column.The rate of fire and the accuracy of hit both stunned and devastated the Japanese column. Despite Scott’s initial mistrust of radar, he ordered ships to fire using the technology due to the fact that the fire was so heavy that he could not monitor the battle visually, and within minutes, all American ships were doing just that, adjusting their fire with radar and walking the shells into their targets with sniper like accuracy. Aboard McCalla, an Ensign Weems watched the fight and later wrote, “I felt wildly exultant joy  in watching us let them have so much at such murderous range. If you stop and think, 2500-3000 yards is point blank for big guns.  You can hardly miss even if you wanted to.” 4 minutes after opening fire Boise had expended 300 rounds from her main battery!3 Japanese ship were afire at this time Japanese cruiser Aoba had been hit at least 24 times and was afire, 2 main battery turrets were destroyed, her main director was destroyed, searchlights, catapults and several boilers. The firing was so severe that Scott lost control of the events.  Despite his orders to cease fire (WHY???) the ships never did.  They could see their targets and continued to pour it into them. Japanese cruiser Furataka took several heavy hits, more than likely from SF and SLC.  Her turrets were hit and at least 1 was destroyed, and she took hits in her torpedo tubes, which set the Long Lances afire, making her a perfect target.SLC radar set swept the area and detected all enemy targets “afire” Battle Finished By 0245 the battle was over.  The Americans had beaten the hell out of a Japanese cruiser and destroyer force, eventually sending the cruiser Furataka and destroyer Fubuki to the bottom.  Aoba was heavily damaged as well, but limped away.Japanese casualties are estimated to have been 450 men killed and another 100 or so captured the next morning.  US losses amounted to the destroyer Duncan being sunk, the cruiser Boise being heavily damaged, Salt Lake City lightly damaged, and destroyer Farenholt heavily damaged. US KIAs are set at 163 men killed. While the battle was clearly an American victory as the Japanese were denied their mission to bombard Henderson the long ranging effects on the campaign were actually minimal.Because of Scott’s (rightly) focus on the Japanese bombardment force, the troop and supply convoy was successful in unloading its cargo and escaped before morning. Nevertheless, the victory provided a much needed boost in morale to the US Navy and its force of cruisers and destroyers.  The general feeling was that Savo had been avenged.

This week we will be talking about the early actions that occurred along the Matinikau river.  Now, as opposed to the land battles we have discussed before, Tenaru and Edson’s Ridge which each only happened one time, the Matinikau actions occurred several times from September through November 1942.  Today, we will be focusing on the September and October actions.   Following the battle at Edson’s Ridge, what remained of the Japanese force under General Kawaguchi, pulled back through the jungle and attempted to regroup, as well as refit, on the western side of the Matinikau river.  Marine general Archer Vandegrift was aware that the Japanese had done this very thing and planned to eliminate whatever was left of the force that had slammed against the ridge on two consecutive nights in September. Vandegrift was determined to mop up what was left of the Japanese so as to deny them the opportunity to consolidate their forces and resume their offensive.  Vandegrift chose his freshest troops for this action, the recently arrived 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines under a Lieutenant Colonel whose name was and still is synonymous with the Corps.  Lewis B Chesty Puller. Talking Points: The 7th Marines Arrive:On September 18, the Marines on Guadalcanal finally received some much needed reinforcements, to the tune of 4157 men of the 7th Marine RegimentFresh from garrison duty in Samoa, these Marines were both fresh and eager to go.Their arrival allowed Vandegrift to finally establish a full defensive perimeter around the Lunga Point areaLearning from the lessons earlier in the campaign, the 7th Marines were disgorged on the beach early in the morning, and by 1800 that same day the cargo ships, now properly loaded, spit out a further 137 trucks4323 barrels of fuel60% of the tentage and equipment needed by the 7thThe remainder would be unloaded in short order Lewis B “Chesty” Puller 44 years old at this timeJoined the Marines in 1918By 42 he had served 24 years in the CorpsA veteran of Haiti, Nicaragua, better known as the banana wars, Puller had loads of combat experience before he ever got to the CanalDescribed as the prototypical Marine officer, Puller had a chin like “bulldozer blade”, a barrel chest and seemingly always had a pipe stuck in his teeth.  Highly decorated for service in Haiti and Nicaragua and grounded in the fundamentals of infantry combat and what it took to both be an infantryman, and how to survive as an infantryman, his men absolutely adored him. Mission:Puller was to advance astride Mount Austen, cross the river and examine the area between Mount Austen and KokumbonaClearly just an exploratory mission 900 men under Puller moved out on September 23On the afternoon of the next day, the lead elements of Puller’s force ran into a Japanese bivouac area on the NW slope of Mount AustenIn the ensuing fight, the Marines drove the Japanese off just before dark, but took significant casualties7 KIA 25 WIA The next day 2/5 was sent to reinforce Puller and allow his wounded to be brought to the rear At the same time, the Japanese had established a defensive area around the position known as “One Log Bridge” along the riverThe Japanese 12th Company, at the bridge, and Puller’s units hit each repeatedly with neither side gaining, or losing, any ground Because of the defense at one log bridge, Puller continued downstream, headed towards the mouth of the river and attempted a crossing.He was met with fierce Japanese defensive fire and mortars that handily checked the Marine advance and forced them to hold on the friendly side of the river Vandegrift sent the 1st Raiders to join Puller and at this point, Edson took commandEdson and Puller devised a plan to have C Company of Puller’s Battalion move up the east side of the river, cross one log bridge and attack Matinikau village from the south2/5 would hold the line near the mouth of the river to deny any attempt by the Japanese to flank Puller’s group Attack:At first light on the 27th, the Raiders moved up to cross the one log bridgeAs they did so, they came under intense fire from well entrenched Japanese on the east bank of the riverThis was completely unexpected as far as the Marines were concernedWell placed Japanese mortar fire began to take effect on the RaidersKenneth Bailey, leading the attack is killed here After Bailey is killed, LCOL Griffith, who had been wounded in the fight, tried to slip 2 companies around the entrenched Japanese in order to flank them, but they too were pinned down by heavy Japanese fire Back at the mouth of the river, the Japanese 9th Company continuously hurled back 2/5’s attacks across the river  Pt Cruz: In an attempt to cut the Japanese off, Companies A, B and D of 1/7 landed near Point Cruz and began to push inland.It must be noted that the this action would not have occurred had it been known by Vandegrift that Puller’s and the Raider’s attack had not succeeded as yet.Garbled radio transmissions from Griffith did not make it clear that the action was successful Almost immediately, the Marines came under heavy fire as COL Oka deployed several units to attack the recently landed MarinesMortar rounds killed Major Rogers, and wounded another Company commander, leaving Captain Charles Kelly to assume command of the operationWithin a short amount of time, the Japanese had moved behind the marines (coast side) and cut them off from any route of escapeRealizing their predicament, Kelly ordered to radio for help…but no radios had been brought to the area by the Marines.Using t-shirts, the Marines spelled out HELP on the ground, a signal that was seen by an SBD pilot from VMSB231 named Dale Leslie.Leslie relayed the Marines’ desperate message which was picked up by PullerMeanwhile, Edson’s attack was still underway when he too received the message of distress from Kelly.Edson halted his attack despite Puller’s heated argument that halting the attack would allow the Japanese to send more men to attack and eventually annihilate Kelly. Fearing for his men, Puller hauled ass back to Kukum where he boarded the destroyer USS Monssen Gathering landing craft, Puller, Monssen, and a flock of 10 landing craft headed towards Point Cruz in the area the Marines had initially landedOnce arriving, the landing craft were greeted by furious fire from the Japanese who had by this time, pushed the Marines back, cut them off and were preparing to mount an assault to destroy themPuller was able to establish comms with Kelly ashore by use of semaphore and directed him to make his way to the coast NOWAs the Marines attempted to fight their way out, the destroyer Monssen provided direct artillery support with every available weapon aboard ship for 30 minutes and helped blast a path for the withdrawing MarinesBy 1630, those who could, had made it to the beach as the landing craft were heading to rescue themRealizing the Marines were trying to escape, the Japanese poured fire into them and tried to reestablish the encirclement Douglas MunroMunro ordered his Higgins landing craft towards the shore as he and the other boats in his formation came under intense fire.Manning a Lewis machine gun, Munro returned fire at the Japanese and ordered for his boat to move closer to the beach so as to shield the Marines that were attempting to embark on the other landing craft.As his boat moved into position, Munro noticed a grounded landing craft, again moving his boat to shield the Marines attempting to free the craft, Munro purposely exposed himself and his boat to withering enemy fire.  Holding station for several minutes, Munro poured fire back at the Japanese and eventually directed his boat to withdraw after the previously grounded landing craft had been freed and loaded with Marines.  As Munro’s craft withdrew he was struck by a Japanese bullet at the base of his skull.Rushing back to Lunga point, his best friend Raymond Evans cradled Munro in his arms. Munro regained consciousness, looked at Evans and asked, “Did they get off?” Evans replied in the affirmative, and Munro died.Munro was the first, and so far, the only Coast Guardsman to receive the MOHThe ill-fated Marine action resulted in 70 KIA and a further 100 WIA October 6-9 actionsOn October 3 LTGEN Maruyama was landed along with fresh troops.  His mission was to set up artillery positions on the opposite side of the Matinkiau with which to shell Marine positions in preparation for the late October offensive that was on the horizonOver the next few days, the Japanese proceeded to do just that as well as set up further defensive postions along the banks of the river. Vandegrift, again aware that the Japanese were preparing positions as well as preparing for an offensive Daily Marine patrols ran into Japanese and confirmed both the arrival of fresh troops and the preparations for offensive As a result of this knowledge, Vandegrift once again planned an offensive against the Matinikau positions to eliminate the threat before it came to himHis plan was to strike and seize the area near Kokumbona to deny Japanese access to the trails that lead to the upper portion of the Lunga area.The 5th Marines, minus 1/5 would advance along the coast and force a crossing of the river.The Whaling Group, as well as the 7th Marines, would cross the river further south at one log bridge.Once across the Whaling Group and the 7th would attack down the ridges and hopefully trap a large number of Japanese in the process. The fighting:October 7 the attack kicked off, with 3/5 reaching the river and running into fierce resistance3/5 used 75mm artillery pieces mounted in half-tracks to pour direct fire into the Japanese positions.  Slowly, the Japanese gave ground.By nightfall, the Marines held the mouth of the river and the Whaling Group and the 7th had crossed the river easily at one log bridge The following afternoon, H Company 5th Marines under Captain Rigaud mistakenly entered a valley between two Japanese units The enemy holding the high ground poured fire into H Company.  Marines started to panic, and began to run.  Rigaud stood up in the middle of the fight, challenged his men, shamed them, cajoled them and made them retake their positions and eventually withdrew in order.Fighting died down on the 7th and the assault waited until the following day to complete the encirclementOn the 8th, Vandegrift received intel that the Japanese were preparing an all out offensive to recapture the island.  As a result, he cancelled the operation for the next day and ordered his units to return to the American perimeter to prepare a defense following this day’s actions. The Whaling Group and 2/7 reached the beach as Puller’s group topped a ridgeline to find an entire Japanese battalion in the ravine below him.Puller called in artillery and mortars and watched as the artillery did its work, calling them machines for extermination.The Japanese tried to escape by climbing up the ravine side and were taken under direct machine gun and rifle fire from Puller’s men.Only after Puller’s men had expended all of their mortar ammunition did he order cease fire, moving out to rejoin Whaling and Hanneken ahead of him.This concluded the second battle around the Matinikau which resulted in:65 KIA and 125 WIAThe Japanese lost around 700 men in the three day engagement Effects on the campaign:Because of the loss of the Matinikau, the Japanese were forced to eventually march their men through the jungle (again) before the major assault around Henderson Field in late October .  This march, like Kawaguchi’s the month before, exhausted the attackers to the point where their efficiency in the attack that came was severely diminished. 

This week we would like to welcome back Dave Holland.  Dave is a former United States Marine, owns and runs the facebook and youtube channel called Guadalcanal: Walking a battlefield, a Solomon islands battlefield guide, and most importantly, a Guadalcanal expert.  Welcome back, Dave.It’s been over a month since the Marines landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo.  August has passed and with it, the lives of over 1,200 allied sailors and airmen at the battles of Savo island and Eastern Solomons, as well as the lives of over 200 US Marines ashore.  The Japanese have lost over 1700 men ashore on the aforementioned islands, including nearly 800 at the Tenaru river on August 21 as well as nearly 300 lost at sea.   Operation WATCHTOWER was never assumed to be a quick in and out operation, it was never thought of, at least by the United States, as a quick trip. The Americans knew it would be a slugfest, how much of a slugfest was anyone’s guess however.  As September dawned and the first week passed, the slugfest ashore abruptly turned into a meatgrinder.  A bloody, drawn-out campaign of attrition was something that the Japanese could not withstand.  The Japanese were sick of the Marines on Guadalcanal, and wanted them out and wanted them out now.   Beginning in the first week of September, over 5,000 Japanese troops under the command of General Kawaguchi landed on Guadalcanal with their sole mission being to “rout and annihilate the enemy in the vicinity of the Guadalcanal Island airfield.”  The focus of their initial assaults on the Marines would center on an area south of Henderson Field, near three small hills and an, as yet, unnamed ridge.  The unnamed ridge would soon receive several names from the Marines who defended it.  History would call it, Edson’s Ridge. Talking Points Lead up to the Battle: As early as August 18, Imperial Japanese Army orders stated that the main body of the 35th Infantry Brigade under GEN Kawaguchi prepare to move to Guadalcanal.By late August, Kawaguchi had formed a plan to move his unit to the Canal from Shortland by barges.  American day time air power shut that idea down, so as to force the Japanese to move Kawaguchi’s people to the island by means of fast DDs.This was one of the first operations of the infamous Tokyo Express Kawaguchi was completely ignorant as to the number of Marines in and around the defense perimeter.  Estimates told him that no more than 2,000 Marines held the lines, albeit with aircraft to help them.This estimate allowed Kawaguchi to believe that he could easily break through Marine lines with his force (sound familiar Ichiki?) By September 7, Kawaguchi had over 5,000 men encamped around Taivu PointThis did not include Colonel Oka’s men, some 1,000 strong, that were separate and slated to hit the SW quadrant of the American lines. Kawaguchi then split his forces further, breaking his units into groups of about 650 men each and put them on 3 separate avenues of advance, through the jungle, to eventually strike the Marine lines all at once. A further avenue of attack was designated to come from the SE, and this would contain the newly christened “Kuma” BTLN, which was consisted of Ichiki’s 2nd echelon.  Artillery would theoretically support the assaults, as would naval gunfire in the form of bombardments of Marine positions on September 9 and 10 Kawaguchi picked the night of September 12 as the night of the assaultBy September 8, Kawaguchi had moved his assault units from Taivu to Koli Point and set off on foot through the jungle on September 9.  The Tasimboko Raid: Word reached Vandegrift (via native scouts) that fresh Japanese units had landed and that a group of 2-300 were in and around the village of TasimbokoThe commander of the 1st Raider Battalion, Merritt Edson, jumped on the news and hatched a plan to land a portion of his Raider Battalion some 3,000 yards behind Tasimboko and take the Japanese by surprise Merritt A Edson Known as “Red Mike” for his fiery red hairGenerally was a quiet and reserved manSpoke with a low, quiet, raspy voice that was hard to hearFormer aviator, but he was an expert in infantry tacticsLike all good commanders, he possessed an innate ability to instantly recognize good or poor performance in his subordinatesOn September 8, the Raiders landed at Taivu PointImmediately found signs of enemy landings in the form of half-eaten food, abandoned packs, shoes, life preservers and some weapons Edson’s men were met by heavy defensive fire as they moved inland towards Tasimboko Kawaguchi ordered artillery support and detached an infantry company to lend a hand to the defendersThe rest of kawaguchi’s people kept on towards the airfieldP-400’s and SBDs from Henderson Field rendered aerial support as Edson’s men pushed forwardCompany A of the 1st Raiders burst out of the jungle and annihilated what Japanese had not fled the area of TasimbokoThe Marines entered Tasimboko to find it essentially deserted of people but filled with valuable intel and suppliesMarines bayoneted the Japanese tins of beef and crabThey found 75mm guns, a radio outpost, medical supplies, boats, ammunition by the crate fullCorrespondent Richard Tregaskis filled a blanket with papers, maps and other documentsBecause of some of the intel gathered at Tasimboko, the Marines were able to somewhat prep for what was coming… Eve of battleDue to the intel gathered by Edson, he was able to inform Vandegrift that defenses should be placed along the ridge as it seemed the most likely avenue of approach for an attack that may contain as many as 4,000 Japanese During the trek to the ridge, Kawaguchi’s forces were essentially assaulted by the jungle in which they travelled Marine patrols began running into elements of Kawaguchi’s people on the 10th Native scouts brought word that the Japanese were on the move allowing the Marine’s just enough time to dig some foxholes and clear fields of fire Edson’s Raiders were strung out in a thin line often intersected by lagoons and seemingly impenetrable jungle A single string of barbed wire was at the front, flanked by supporting strongpoints with mutually supporting fire lanesEdson was convinced a major Japanese force was in front of him and continued his patrols the next day (12 Sept)Firefights sprang up through the late night of September 12 and early September 13, with intermittent Japanese naval bombardments in between The Japanese had wanted a coordinated attack but because of the jungle and some units simply getting lost, this was not to be on the night of the 12/13 Japanese units were late in assembling, if at all, and when they attacked, sometimes 2-3 hours after they were supposed to, they missed the ridge almost entirely and got into fights with C Co and B Co Raiders in the swamps. Kawaguchi lost control due to the mixed units and late arrivals and the attack fell apart before it really began The following morning (13 Sept) Edson sat eating his breakfast and told his officers, “They were testing, just testing.  They’ll be back.” September 13/14 Edson’s Ridge Edson pulled his line back in the morning and prepared fresh positions to confuse the Japanese attackers that would come that nightDespite this, the defenses were still inadequate.   Small combat groups of about 100 men each were at positions spread across and around the ridge Around 1830 the first attacks came, pushing B and D Companies off their positions and up the ridgeJapanese surged through the gap in the lines but Marine artillery brought them to a halt for a short whileEdson estimated that around 2200 hours, the B Company and two small groups of Paramarines (300 ish men) were facing 2 full battalions of Japanese Paramarines on the flank were assaulted around 2230 by mortars then a wave of infantry who came bursting out of the nearby jungle, straight at them. The Marines were being assaulted from the front and also flanked.  Harry Torgerson of Raggedy Assed Gavutu fame, helped pull the paras back about 150 yards to a small knoll where they reassembled The main thrust of the attack now fell on B Co Raiders under John SweeneyOnly 60 menEdson pulled these men back to from a line with C Co and A Co of the ParasAs the Marines pulled back, it is thought that someone mentioned the word “withdraw”, having heard this many of the Marines started heading for the airfield moving significantly faster than a walking pace At the same time the Marines were withdrawing, Kawaguchi’s reserve slammed into those very men, forcing the withdrawal damn near into a rout Kenneth Bailey All the while the Marines were withdrawing to a better position, the artillery was eating the Japanese aliveTregaskis heard over the radio “Drop it five zero and walk it back and forth across the ridge”Edson sent a runner saying “It’s knocking the hell out of them.”Artillery probably saved the day to be honest The Japanese were so close that at the division command post, the men were under direct Japanese rifle fireAt this time, about 300 Marines held a knoll in a horseshoe shaped line, the last defense before Henderson FieldTorgerson led a counterattack of the Paras that forced the Japanese back and extended Marine linesAll throughout this action, Edson kept calling the arty even closer to his position, but still the Japanese came on, undeterred The fighting got so close that Marines could hear the Japanese steeling themselves for another attack and in response the marines rolled grenades down the ridge into the Japanese clusters of men Attacks continued through the night, with the Marines literally clinging to victory as the sun rose As soon as was feasible, P400’s arose and lit into what was left of the Japanese in the open Several more Japanese attacks hit Marine lines in different places over the next couple days, but none were serious and none threatened the airfield Assessment: The Marines barely, just barely hung onArtillery was the saviorArtillery is estimated to have killed no less than 2/3 the Japanese killed on the ridge and no more than ¾ Air support and the harassment of Japanese units BEFORE the battle by air also contributed heavily to the victory Regardless of the support, the battle would have been lost had it not been for the men pulling triggersEdson was awarded the MOH and was extremely deserving of the award, having been the main inspirational leader and an excellent tactician during the defense By far, the Ridge battle was the closest fight yet.  Had the Japanese been able to commit their entire force as planned, the airfield, more than likely, would have been captured. Hundreds more Japanese died during the withdrawal from the area (back through the jungle) due to wounds and starvation, thereby eliminating virtually all of Kawaguchi’s command Due to the shocking defeat of Kawaguchi, the Japanese were now more committed than ever before to force a showdown on Guadalcanal by committing decisive force This will be seen several times in the month of October